Chapter 5 : Spark Ignites

Sophia pressed her palms harder against Nikolai's blood-soaked torso, summoning every ounce of healing power within her. The wolf sentinel's life force ebbed perilously.

"You can't die!" she pleaded, blinking back tears. "Not when you've barely lived."

Nikolai had sacrificed himself to shield Sophia when Viktor's hunters found their refuge just after dawn. She choked back anguish at the trail of bodies scattered outside (Lukas's warriors who had vowed to protect their Alpha's destined mate).

Now only she and Nikolai remained. The screech of armored vehicles nearby promised their deaths if her gift didn't revive the fallen bodyguard in time.

"Wake up!" Sophia commanded, her vision going white. A brilliant aura enveloped Nikolai as long moments passed. Finally he dragged in a ragged breath, life returning to his waxen face. Sophia sobbed in relief.

"We need to move quickly," she urged, helping Nikolai stand on unsteady legs. "Can you shift form?"

He eyed her grimly. "After that miracle, I could take on Zavarelli's hordes single-handedly."

Sophia allowed herself a shaky smile before they slipped outside, picking their way silently through the carnage. Her gut twisted realizing Viktor's forces must have followed her and Liam's trail here after ransacking her apartment. Now more lives were lost because of the ruthless mafia don's obsession with capturing her power. Icy determination flooded Sophia's veins. She had to end this but had scarcely begun to understand her capabilities. What she needed was a teacher.

The sleek SUV waiting at the cabin's hidden rear exit answered Sophia's unspoken thoughts. Lukas unfolded from the vehicle, thunderous rage etched on his harsh features. In seconds she was enveloped tightly against his chest, his hoarse voice a balm to her frantic pulse.

"You're safe now, malyshka."

Sophia sank into his blistering strength. But safety was only an illusion with Viktor's single-minded pursuit. And she couldn't lose Lukas too in the crosshairs.

Gently extricating herself from his embrace, she met the Pack leader's smoldering eyes. "I need to learn what I can truly do. My gifts are still wild...dangerous." Sophia hesitated only a heartbeat. "I want you to teach me control."

A fierce longing entered Lukas's gaze. To harness her powers was to consolidate his conquest. He tucked a strand of hair behind Sophia's ear. "You have only to ask, my beauty. And your potential shall be unlocked."

Viktor turned slowly away from what remained of his lieutenant Raphael. The fool had paid with his life for letting Varano reclaim the girl. Now she was lost among one of the wolf's hidden compounds according to Viktor's inside sources.

His hands curled into vengeful fists. So be it. The Pack leader would rue this insult when Zavarelli vengeance rained down unrelenting.

A sharp rap at his office door claimed Viktor's attention. His new second, Stefan, entered, a sheaf of documents in hand. "Updates on the healer, Master," he murmured, laying the files atop Viktor's desk. His calculating glance took in Raphael's gruesome remains then darted quickly away. None were exempt should they fail Viktor's directives.

The Master flipped open the top folder, its contents making his jaw tighten. Surveillance images spilled across polished wood—Lukas glowering behind Sophia's slight form on busy city sidewalks...the woman smiling shyly up at the wolf outside coffeeshops... the pair training within forest confines, Sophia wreathed in uncanny light as her abilities expanded exponentially.

Viktor's fingers curled, marring a photo of Lukas grasping Sophia's wrist, proprietary and intimate. He recalled her sexual tension with the mongrel at their first encounter. So she had finally cast her lot surrendering to the dog.

A muscle ticked along Viktor's jawline. No matter. Once the wolf was muzzled, the healer would kneel willingly...or forcibly. But her body's secrets now belonged to his enemy. That truth festered in Viktor's mind like arterial poison.

He closed the final surveillance report with controlled calm that contradicted the venom churning inside him.

"Bring the car around," Viktor ordered Stefan without glancing up. "I have important business that won't wait."

The ride toward Varano territory passed in silence. Stefan knew better than to break Viktor's palpable silence, hands loose upon the wheel as they slipped beyond the elaborate security checkpoint into forested countryside.

Soon an architectural wonder of steel and glass appeared between the trees. Lukas's fabled sanctuary, impenetrable to any without his personal invitation. Stefan pulled alongside the reflecting pool gracing the front entrance.

"Return for me at sundown unless instructed otherwise," Viktor intoned. Waiting for no reply, he stepped from the vehicle and climbed wide stone steps alone. At the massive doors, he tugged one engraved handle and was unsurprised when it opened smoothly at his touch. Varano was clearly expecting his arrival.

Drawing a fortifying breath, Viktor crossed the threshold into a soaring five story atrium. There he discovered his adversary leaning indolently upon a carved balustrade, keen eyes tracking the Master's approach.

"Zavarelli. To what do I owe such...pleasure?" Lukas purred.

Viktor tamped his annoyance at finding the other man calm and relaxed despite their brutal history. "I would have words. Privately, regarding a mutually entangled interest."

One black brow lifted, but Lukas turned without objection, leading them to an intimate office. He took a seat behind an imposing desk while Viktor sank into a leather chair opposite. Neither spoke as they sized one another up.

Finally Viktor rested his hands deliberately atop the desk's gleaming surface. "I have a business proposal of sorts...regarding Sophia." Lukas's sharp gaze promised violence at her name on the don's lips. Viktor continued smoothly.

"You and I both recognize the woman's value. I am prepared to be...generous in compensating your Pack, provided Miss Sophia remains unharmed while in my exclusive custody."

Lukas surged half out of his seat with a feral snarl. "You dare suggest I would sell my own mate to the likes of you?"

Viktor stayed motionless, unflinching before the Alpha's killing rage. "Come now, be reasonable. She is too great a prize to be selfishly hoarded." He tilted his head, contemptuous. "Unless your claim on her is uncertain even still..."

With blinding speed, Lukas snatched Viktor by his shirt. "By my life's blood she is bound irrevocably to me!"

Even then Viktor showed no fear, smiling coldly. "But does Sophia say the same I wonder? We both saw her response to me that first meeting."

The words hit their target. Lukas flung Viktor away and began circling the expansive office, grappling visibly with something that resembled torment. Finally he turned, eyes volcanic.

"Why this obsession with my Omega, Zavarelli?" He dragged ragged breaths. "Have you no qualified women among your own kind?"

Viktor carefully smoothed his rumbled clothing. "I always obtain the finest quality." His arctic eyes tracked Lukas. "But indulge my curiosity. With the world at your feet, what has one vulnerable girl to tempt a lordly Alpha?"

Fists clenched, Lukas seemed to wage his own internal war. When finally he looked at Viktor again, confession burned from his expression.

"She...sees me as a man, not just the beast ever clawing beneath. And I would rip my own heart out before losing that gift."

Profound longing and despair warred across Lukas's harsh features. Viktor regarded him thoughtfully in the weighted silence before eventually rising to leave. He had learned quite enough for today.

"Don't despair, old enemy." Viktor's smile remained enigmatic. "This contest between us is far from finished."

The Master exited without a backward glance, mind turning rapidly. He had gained new insight into Varano's Achilles heel despite the wasted negotiations. And witnessed firsthand obsession's cruel grasp—that which had also closed its claws so tightly around his pride. But Viktor's will was iron toward conquering such weaknesses.

Reaching the idling sedan, he slipped wordlessly into the backseat. "Return me to the city center office."

Watching downtown's glittering skyline approached, Viktor permitted himself a grim smile. Soon Sophia's honey and jasmine scent would envelop his quarters instead of the damned mongrel's. He was patient when capturing coveted rewards. And never suffered rivals lightly...even when they warred inside himself.

Sophia paced the flagstone path winding through Lukas's estate gardens. Dusk blanketed the sculpted hedges and night-blooming flowers, mirroring the peaceful interlude settling across the Pack compound after recent chaos.

Pausing beside the central fountain, she trailed thoughtful fingers through the water's surface. This sanctuary stood utterly isolated from Viktor's brewing reprisals as he regrouped his forces. Yet Sophia shivered despite evening's balmy breeze. A premonition she couldn't name twisted her stomach—that the mafia overlord's vengeance would strike savagely soon.

Quiet footsteps sounded behind her. Lukas's rich voice curled warmly through the twilight. "You missed supper. I was concerned."

Sophia managed a tense smile. "Just thinking about everything. I know this peace is an illusion with Zavarelli determined to retaliate against us."

Us. The word held dangerous intimacy. Yet she hadn't hesitated claiming bonds between them. However reluctantly, Lukas had become her closest ally against their shared adversary.

The Pack leader moved closer, shadows accentuating his harsh features. "You are under my protection here. I swear Viktor will never breach these walls, nor take you against your will."

Lukas tipped her chin up, holding her riveted in silvered eyes. "You believe that, yes? Have faith in me?"

Sophia read stark longing in Lukas's face...and equally naked vulnerability that he would fail her as protector. She laid one palm against his hard chest.

"Yes, I do trust you." The admission whispered between them like a covenant.

Lukas burned searing as a branding iron. She knew then his wolf was barely leashed, their bodies straining closer by primal magnetism. Sophia tightened her hand in his shirt, shocked by yearning threatening her self-control.

A discreet cough claimed their attention. Nikolai waited several paces away, face carefully neutral. "Forgive me, Alpha. The perimeter guard reported intruders crossing our southern border."

Sophia blinked hard against stupor from their interrupted intimacy. South. The direction of her former refuge cabin...and life Liam had barely clung to when she left him hospitalized days ago.

Her stomach dropped fathoms. Viktor was moving against her again. And this time her oldest friend hung as easy prey between them.

Lukas stepped back, visage again an impassable warrior chieftain. "Bring the vehicles around. I'll gather our forces." He hesitated, then drew Sophia fiercely against him once more.

"I swear upon my own name you and yours will come to no harm." The vow burst gravel-rough between them. Then Lukas was gone, racing into the night toward bloody purpose.

After her argument with Lukas, Sophia impatiently intruded upon him in his study, chin lifted with determination. Earlier she had been shocked when Lukas forbade her to accompany his team to confront Viktor.

Despite Lukas's warning that Viktor surely anticipated her presence and undoubtedly planned for it, Sophia would not stand idly by while Liam or other innocents were targeted because of her.

She squared her shoulders, fixing her gaze on Lukas's handsome face. He had risen out of his chair, lethally powerful, sinewy muscle shifting under finely tailored clothing.

"I am coming with you whether I have your blessing or not." No room for equivocation, no backing down. Intensity shimmered around Sophia and permeated the air between them. For the first time her blossoming abilities gave her the confidence to challenge an Alpha werewolf on his own authority.

Lukas's jaw tensed and his eyes darkened, but after a moment's breath to restrain his wolf, he gave a tiny nod of acquiescence. His gaze was intense, prowling her curves before intent silver speared through her.

"Know that I will stop at nothing to keep you at my side," he growled softly, body pressing hers back against the bookcases lining the walls.

"What are you doing?" Sophia gasped out, eyes widening as he surrounded her. Every line of muscle seemed to strain toward her as if magnetized. His eyes were molten and unblinking as he breathed in her floral scent.

"Taking what's mine," came the chilling response, and his mouth crashed down on hers. Oh! The taste, like honey wine and sin, flooded her senses, liquefying her limbs even as tiny alarm bells sounded in her mind. She barely registered her hands coming up around his neck, anchoring herself as his onslaught continued.

His kiss bruised with intensity and ferocity. She was overwhelmed by his storm possessive strength and the sheer power barely restrained. A tiny sound escaped her lips and he pressed closer in response.

Finally Lukas tore his mouth from hers, breathing labored. He rested his forehead against hers before pressing more gentle kisses to her swollen mouth. His thumb brushed a tear escaping her lashes unnoticed.

"Soon, beloved, you will be my mate forever." The s yearning in his voice tore at her already confused heart even as she struggled to catch her breath.